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Page 474
"William"
"Do not forbid me, brother. I beg you. My son is there. If Ian dies, Geoffrey dies."
"I was not going to forbid you," John said untruthfully.
He realized in time that forbidding William to go to his son's rescue would be useless. He would not obeyand there was little John could do, because he really loved his half-brother. William of Salisbury was the one man in the world John did not doubt or fear and could not hurt. This was an unfortunate complication to a clear and beautiful idea that had leaped into John's mind. He needed time, a little time alone, to work around William's presence.
"All I was going to say," John continued, "was that you should go to bed. Have you eaten anything this day? No? I thought not. No! I do forbid you to ride out again tonight. You will ride headlong for Wales, arriving before the lady or her troops. If you give me a little time to think, perhaps there is some help I can offer youand you need not look at me that way. I would not lift a finger to assist Ian de Vipont. In fact, I will tell you plain that nothing could please me better than to hear of his death. However, Geoffrey is another matter entirely."
"I will eat, if you desire, but I cannot sleep," William protested.
"Oh yes you can," John insisted. He signaled to one of the squires of the body. "Go with him, William, and have a little sense. Eat and sleep, and tomorrow I will have something for you to make matters better. I cannot send troops with you. Royal troops in Wales can only mean trouble, but I will think of something."
Hardly had his brother left the room when another squire was running to bid a royal courier make ready to ride at once. John sat down and bit his fingers. If the castellan had taken his overlord prisoner, it must be to gain the estate for himself. There could be no other

 
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